sence is the fulness of joy, at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness". III.

Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief; yea, my soul and my belly.

For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

I am like a broken vessel.

But I trusted in Thee, O Lord; I said, Thou art my God.

My times are in Thy hand: Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant: save me for Thy mercy's sake*. When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

Hide not Thy face from me; put not Thy servant away in Thine anger: Thou hast been my help, leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

O how great is Thy goodness which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!

Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence from the pride of man: Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues, [from the calumnies and aggravation of sins by Devils.]

t Ps. xvi. 1, 2, 5, 7-9, 11.

Ps. xxxi. 9, 10, 12, 14-16.

u Ps. xvii. 15.

Ps. xxvii. 8, 9, 13.

I said in my haste, I am cut off from before Thine eyes nevertheless Thou heardest the voice of my supplication when I cried unto Thee.

O love the Lord, all ye His Saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plenteously rewardeth the proud doer.

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord".

The Prayer to be said in the beginning of a sickness.

O Almighty God, merciful and gracious, Who in Thy justice didst send sorrow and tears, sickness and death, into the world, as a punishment for man's sins, and hast comprehended all under sin and this sad. covenant of sufferings, not to destroy us, but that Thou mightest have mercy upon all, making Thy justice to minister to mercy, short afflictions to an eternal weight of glory; as Thou hast turned my sins into sickness, so turn my sickness to the advantages of Holiness and Religion, of mercy and pardon, of faith and hope, of grace and glory. Thou hast now called me to the fellowship of sufferings: Lord, by the instrument of Religion let my present condition be so sanctified, that my sufferings may be united to the sufferings of my Lord, that so Thou mayest pity me and assist me. Relieve my sorrow, and support my spirit: direct my thoughts, and sanctify the accidents of my sickness, and that the punishment of my sin may be the school of virtue: in which since Thou hast now entered me, Lord, make me a holy proficient; that I may behave myself as a son under discipline, hum

Ps. xxxi. 19, 20, 22-24.

a 2 Cor. iv. 17.

bly and obediently, evenly and penitently, that I may come by this means nearer unto Thee; that if I shall go forth of this sickness by the gate of life and health, I may return to the world with great strengths of spirit, to run a new race of a stricter Holiness and a more severe Religion: or if I pass from hence with the outlet of death, I may enter into the bosom of my Lord, and may feel the present joys of a certain hope of that sea of pleasures in which all Thy Saints and servants shall be comprehended to eternal ages. Grant this for Jesus Christ His sake, our dearest Lord and Saviour. Amen.

An act of Resignation to be said by a sick person in all the evil accidents of his Sickness.

O Eternal God, Thou hast made me and sustained me, Thou hast blessed me in all the days of my life, and hast taken care of me in all variety of accidents; and nothing happens to me in vain, nothing without Thy providence; and I know Thou smitest Thy servants in mercy, and with designs of the greatest pity in the world: Lord, I humbly lie down under Thy rod; do with me as Thou pleasest; do Thou choose for me, not only the whole state and condition of being, but every little and great accident of it. Keep me safe by Thy grace, and then use what instrument Thou pleasest of bringing me to Thee. Lord, I am not solicitous of the passage, so I may get Thee. Only, O Lord, remember my infirmities, and let Thy servant rejoice in Thee always, and feel and confess, and glory in Thy goodness. O be Thou as delightful to me in this my medicinal sickness, as ever Thou

wert in any of the dangers of my prosperity: let me not peevishly refuse Thy pardon at the rate of a severe discipline. I am Thy servant and Thy creature, Thy purchased possession, and Thy son; I am all Thine: and because Thou hast mercy in store for all that trust in Thee, I cover mine eyes, and in silence wait for the time of my redemption. Amen.

A Prayer for the grace of Patience.

Most merciful and gracious Father, Who in the Redemption of lost Mankind by the Passion of Thy most Holy Son hast established a Covenant of Sufferings; I bless and magnify Thy Name that Thou hast adopted me into the inheritance of sons, and hast given me a portion of my elder Brother. Lord, the Cross falls heavy and sits uneasy upon my shoulders; my spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak: I humbly beg of Thee that I may now rejoice in this Thy dispensation and effect of providence. I know and am persuaded that Thou art then as gracious when Thou smitest us for amendment or trial, as when Thou relievest our wearied bodies in compliance with our infirmity. I rejoice, O Lord, in Thy rare and mysterious mercy, Who by sufferings hast turned our misery into advantages unspeakable: for so Thou makest us like to Thy Son, and givest us a gift that the Angels never did receive: for they cannot die in conformity to, and imitation of, their Lord and ours; but, blessed be Thy Name, we can, and, dearest Lord, Let it be so. Amen.

II.

Thou who art the God of Patience and consolation,

b Matth. xxvi. 41.

strengthen me in the inner man, that I may bear the yoke and burden of the Lord without any uneasy and useless murmurs and ineffective unwillingness. Lord, I am unable to stand under the cross, unable of myself: but Thou, O Holy Jesus, Who didst feel the burden of it, Who didst sink under it, and wert pleased to admit a man to bear part of the load when Thou underwentest all for him, be Thou pleased to ease this load by fortifying my spirit, that I may be strongest when I am weakest, and may be able to do and suffer every thing Thou pleasest, through Christ which strengthens me. Lord, if Thou wilt support me, I will for ever praise Thee: If Thou wilt suffer the load to press me yet more heavily, I will cry unto Thee, and complain unto my God; and at last I will lie down and die, and by the mercies and intercession of the Holy Jesus, and the conduct of Thy blessed Spirit, and the ministry of Angels, pass into those mansions where holy Souls rest, and weep no more. Lord, pity me; Lord, sanctify this my sickness; Lord, strengthen me; Holy Jesus, save me and deliver me. Thou knowest how shamefully I have fallen with pleasure: in Thy mercy and very pity let me not fall with pain too. O let me never charge God foolishly nor offend Thee by my Impatience and uneasy spirit, nor weaken the hands and hearts of those that charitably minister to my needs: but let me pass through the valley of tears and the valley of the shadow of death with safety and peace, with a meek spirit and a sense of the Divine mercies: and though Thou breakest me in pieces, my hope is Thou wilt gather me up in the gatherings of eternity. Grant this, eternal God, gracious Father, for the